By Ira Breskin - A tanker charterer should carefully vet a nominated vessel by conducting prudent risk assessments to reduce liability. In fact, it is incumbent on the charterer to do a thorough job vetting tank vessels in order to minimize, and ideally avoid, subsequent operational problems and resultant cargo claims, said Brendan Hoffman, CEO of Haugen Consulting in … [Read more...]
Business of Shipping: What’s Happening with VLCC Storage?
Photo: Shutterstock/Montenegro By Ira Breskin - Moderate production cuts announced Sunday by the world’s major crude oil producers should reduce what has been the critical need for floating storage used to warehouse excess production, and ease charter rates for storage vessels. On Sunday, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and 21 other oil producing nations agreed to reduce production … [Read more...]
Business of Shipping: Container Shipping Well-Positioned to Withstand COVID-19 Downturn
Port of Rotterdam. Photo credit: By Beketoff / Shutterstock By Ira Breskin - The world’s container shipping industry is well-positioned to withstand the COVID-19 -induced downtown, say industry experts. Speakers offered that consensus view last week during the TPM 20: What We Missed: The Economic, Trade and Container Shipping Outlook webcast. The presentation featured … [Read more...]
Business of Shipping: The LNG Bunkering Era is Here
File photo shows the LNG-powered Isla Bella at the port of Jacksonville, Florida. Photo: JAXPORT Marine Unit/NASSCO By Ira Breskin - The Liquid Natural Gas bunkering era is here. That’s the loud and clear message sent last week at the LNG for 2020: Fueling Tomorrow’s Shipping conference held at SUNY Maritime College in the Bronx, NY. The data are clear. While the … [Read more...]
Business of Shipping: Incident Prompts U.S. Coast Guard to Refocus on Cyber Security
By Ira Breskin - NEW YORK –The local Coast Guard unit now is implementing critical lessons learned from a recently completed turbocharged cybersecurity review. That’s the message delivered by two-sector New York Coast Guard officers to more than 100 attendees at the 13th annual Marine Insurance Day hosted here earlier this month by the American Institute of Marine … [Read more...]